Course detail

Nonmetallic Materials

FSI-WNE Acad. year: 2027/2028 Winter semester

The course provides a comprehensive overview of the structure, properties, processing technologies, and applications of advanced non-metallic materials. Particular attention is paid to the relationships between chemical composition, bonding characteristics, crystal structure, microstructure, and resulting functional properties. Students are introduced to methods for characterizing non-metallic materials, principles of their processing, and mechanisms governing their behavior under various operating conditions. The main part of the course focuses on oxide and non-oxide structural ceramics, ultra-high-temperature ceramics, electroceramics, magnetic, optical, and transparent ceramics, glasses, glass-ceramics, and carbon-based materials. Bioceramics, multifunctional composites, and engineering polymers are also covered. The course concludes with an overview of current trends in the development of advanced non-metallic materials, innovative manufacturing technologies, and emerging applications in industry, energy, electronics, and medicine.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

7

Supervisor

doc. Ing. Daniel Drdlík, Ph.D.

Department

Institute of Materials Science and Engineering

Entry knowledge

Students should have basic knowledge of physics, chemistry, and materials engineering acquired during their first two years of study at FME.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

The examination assesses the theoretical knowledge acquired during the semester. Unless otherwise specified by the lecturer, the examination is conducted orally.

To obtain course credit, students are required to attend all practical classes, complete all assigned tasks, and submit a written laboratory report.

Aims

The objective of the course is to make students familiar with the fundamentals of ceramic material science from the viewpoint of structure-properties relations.
Students will be able to use the acquired knowledge in the related master studies of material engineering and apply it to the solution of appropriate problems of industrial practice particularly the problems connected with the selection of special ceramic materials.

The study programmes with the given course

Programme B-ZSI-P: Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor's
specialization MTI: Materials Engineering, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hours, optionally

Syllabus


  1. Introduction – Bonds in non-metallic materials, structure, defects, sintering, and properties

  2. Imaging and characterization methods for non-metallic materials

  3. Oxide structural ceramics

  4. Non-oxide structural ceramics

  5. Ultra-High-Temperature Ceramics (UHTCs)

  6. Electroceramics

  7. Magnetic ceramics

  8. Glasses and glass-ceramics

  9. Optical and transparent ceramics

  10. Inorganic carbon-based materials

  11. Bioceramics and multifunctional Composites

  12. Polymers

  13. Emerging trends in non-metallic materials

Laboratory exercise

26 hours, compulsory

Syllabus


  1. Introduction to practical classes – course schedule and laboratory safety

  2. Preparation of basic technological processes and equipment for the fabrication of advanced ceramic components by slip casting

  3. Practical preparation of a stable ceramic suspension and its application in the fabrication of advanced ceramics by slip casting

  4. Geometrical preparation, measurement, and evaluation of the density of ceramic green bodies

  5. Measurement and evaluation of the density of ceramic bodies after heat treatment (sintering) and their embedding in polystyrene for grinding and polishing

  6. Construction of a densification curve and determination of the thermal expansion of prepared ceramics based on dilatometric measurements

  7. Ceramographic preparation of ceramic specimens, including manual and automatic grinding and polishing

  8. Determination of grain size using the linear intercept method, microstructural comparison of investigated materials, and submission of laboratory reports

  9. Measurement of Vickers hardness of prepared ceramic materials under different applied loads and determination of fracture toughness

  10. Student presentations on assigned topics – part I

  11. Student presentations on assigned topics – part II

  12. Polymer nomenclature and structure, molecular weight calculations, and examples of polymerization, polycondensation, and polyaddition reactions

  13. Course credit assessment